An Instrumented Apartment to Monitor Human Behavior: A Pilot Case Study in the NeuroTec Loft

Abstract

For patients suffering from neurodegenerative disorders, the behavior and activities of daily living are an indicator of a change in health status, and home-monitoring over a prolonged period of time by unobtrusive sensors is a promising technology to foster independent living and maintain quality of life. The aim of this pilot case study was the development of a multi-sensor system in an apartment to unobtrusively monitor patients at home during the day and night. The developed system is based on unobtrusive sensors using basic technologies and gold-standard medical devices measuring physiological (e.g., mobile electrocardiogram), movement (e.g., motion tracking system), and environmental parameters (e.g., temperature). The system was evaluated during one session by a healthy 32-year-old male, and results showed that the sensor system measured accurately during the participant’s stay. Furthermore, the participant did not report any negative experiences. Overall, the multi-sensor system has great potential to bridge the gap between laboratories and older adults’ homes and thus for a deep and novel understanding of human behavioral and neurological disorders. Finally, this new understanding could be utilized to develop new algorithms and sensor systems to address problems and increase the quality of life of our aging society and patients with neurological disorders.